Let the Past Be the Past
by DarkJisushiku
Summary: It a beautiful night in the courtry side, when Kurama picks up a wanderer and gives him a ride home. But when the two start talking they learn a little about each other, and a lot about themselves. Please review!


**Title: Let The Past Be The Past**

**Rating: G**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or Yu Yu Hakusho, even though I wish I did. -! Umm...some things you should know: The RK gang are living in present time, with the YYH gang. But the RK still live in that awesome dojo. Please leave review, and I totally welcome flames, cuz I'm a pyro. (j/k) Enjoy!

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The way home was a long, winding street. Bus stops and pay phones scattered the deserted highway. The road was calm. It was so different than the sooty cities that showed up every few miles. The air was fresh here. So fresh and...clean. A person could breathe out here. Inhaling was so easy out in the countryside, but exhaling was torturous. How blissful it was to hold the air in, savoring the heavenly, pure freshness of it. So much was right here! The cool night sky gazed down upon the countryside. The vivifying moonlight shone down on only one person: a lover walking home. 

He was breathing in the air gently, enjoying the freedom of the countryside. One day he would bring her here. She would love it. She could fly into the flower-filled hills and leap into the meadows, laughing like she use to when they first met. Imagining her face lightening up at the sight of this land, he began to whistle a tune.

The wind whipped his raw face, but it felt pleasurably good. It reminded him of the way Kaoru always stroked his face. She was so beautiful. She was so lovely. And he missed her. It had been on strenuous week and he was more than happy to go home.

He missed the city life, filled with bright lights and action. He missed the dojo; he missed the smell it had, a mixture of fresh flowers and warm, tropical nights. He missed street the dojo was on, where the local, future- pro baseball players hit balls around. But most of all, he missed Miss Kaoru. He could barely believe that he had lived with out her for one week.

His hair lashed around in the wind, the moonlight making his red hair like fire. His violet eyes had watery depths that a person could submerge themselves in. On his cheek, an old cross-shaped scar was hidden by shadows. He was smiling in a way that only lovers do. One day, he would marry Miss Kaoru. One day, they'd be together...

Drowning himself in these thoughts, he barely took note of the bright red, convertible Mustang that pulled up behind him. He only noticed the car when the driver yelled to him. He turned and walked up to the car.

"You look like you need a ride," said the driver. He was a teenage boy with red hair and emerald eyes. He was wearing a maroon jumpsuit. Obviously, he was a student. "No sense in you walking alone at this time of night."

"No, I'm fine, that I am," the wanderer to the young man.

"Are you sure? I'll be happy to assist you, if you want," the student told him, smiling. His voice was soft, but sounded wiser and older than his outward appearance seemed.

"Well, I guess so, that I do," the wanderer answer, walking around to the passenger's side and getting in the car. "Thank you, sir."

The redheaded boy nodded, and started the Mustang. They drove onto the road, silence passing over them. The night air whipped past them, both of their fiery hair floating behind them. The stars above smiled upon them, kissing the wanderer's cross-shaped scar on his check.

"So, where are you going?" the student asked after many minutes of just the howling wind.

"Tokyo," the wanderer answered.

"Oh...," the student whispered. "Do you live there?"

"Yes, that I do. I live there with my friends," the wanderer answered.

"You live with you friends?" repeated the student, thinking of a short, spiky, black-haired boy who practically lived with him.

"Yes, I do. My friends are the best," the wanderer replied dreamily. "They love me for who I am, and do not care about the mistakes I've made in the past."

Silence...

Suddenly, the student asked, "Mistakes? What mistakes?"

"I've committed many errors in my life."

"Oh, I understand," the student told him, thinking about a silvery thief he knew all too well. "I've committed many sins too. But my friends have forgiven me."

The wanderer looked at the student, his own violet eyes shining. "So have my friends, that they have. But...sometimes I worry I might go back to the villain I once was, and then I would hurt my friends."

The student paused, thinking about what the wanderer had said. After awhile, he told the wanderer, "I know how you feel. Sometimes I worry that I can't keep my old self at bay."

The wander nodded. "My heart is spilt in two -"

"- and sometimes it seems that my old self -"

"- will emerge and overtake my heart -"

"- and the last thing -"

"- I ever want to do..."

They both paused.

"Is hurt them," they finished in unison, both staring at the road.

"My friends are the best thing that ever happened to me," the wandered said, sighing peacefully. "I drifted blindly all my life, but when I met my friends, my blindfold was lifted. How foolish I was, thinking that I was meant to be alone my entire life."

"Maybe we are meant to be alone. Maybe we should leave our friends, so they'd be safe from our true selves." The student's eyes blurred a little.

"Maybe. But I don't think I could stand being alone again."

"Me too," agreed the student softly, brushing a strand of red hair out of his face.

"It's our friends that keep us happy," said the wanderer sensibly. "As long as we are happy, we will always live in the present and not in the past."

They spent the rest of the trip in hushed tranquillity. When they reached Tokyo, the driver dropped the wanderer off at a bus stop. They smiled at each other, as the wanderer said, "I am thankful, that I am."

"Do not mention it. But I have to ask you something," the student said softly. The wanderer nodded in approval. "What's your name?"

"Himura Kenshin."

The wanderer began to walk away, but the driver cried, "Kurama."

"Huh?" said the wanderer, turning around on his heel. "Nani?"

"Kurama. My name is Shuichi Kurama." And with that, the student took off in a roar, driving his Mustang back home. When he reached his house, he kissed his mother good-night and went up to his room. A short, black-haired was sitting outside his window, waiting in the tree. He glared at Kurama in a way that clearly said "Where have you been?"

"I went for a drive," Kurama said simply, opening his window. The boy climbed a little closer to the window, as Kurama fell on his bed.

"Hn," was the boy's reply. "So, Kitsune, where did you go?"

"I had a talk to a stranger," Kurama said, barely listening to the boy. "There are people like me in this world, did you know that, Hiei? There are people who depend on their friends to keep their old lives in the past. Can you believe that, Hiei?"

Hiei just stared at his teammate.

"You and the others keep my demon form inside me. You allow me to led a normal life with my new family. Did you know that, Hiei?" cried an excited Kurama. "Never abandon me, okay? You keep Yoko in the past."

Hiei nodded, thinking that Kurama was going crazy. Silently, Hiei leapt out of the tree and walked away, leaving Kurama alone. He walked down the street, like a shadow of the night. "Friends...merely crutches for the weak," he mumbled. 'But maybe crutches are a good thing... Maybe we all need something to lean on... Maybe the fox isn't crazy... Maybe he's right...,' cried a tiny voice in his head, probably his repressed conscience. He shook his head, concluding that he was going mad.

"Fools." And he walked away, at the moment as a redhead wanderer in Tokyo was telling a young, black-hair girl that he had had met a wonderful, young student named Kurama, who seemed to have gone through the same thing he had.

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**The End**

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